


Welcome to the family, Mr. Fitzgerald!

by Hydro_City_Zone



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Ennard (mentioned), FNAF 2, Flashbacks to Fnaf 4, Fritz has problems, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jeremy does some investigating, Jeremy really needs to get his shit together, Masked Bullies, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Serial Killers, springlock failure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-04-27 09:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14422899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hydro_City_Zone/pseuds/Hydro_City_Zone
Summary: Jeremy himself had been a bit too old for the place when it had opened in early 1980, and the 14 year old wouldn’t have had much interest in going there at all if it hadn’t been for one specific person.———————————This started as a one shot but has basically become an adaptation of FNaF2.





	1. Surreal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surreal: bizzare and unusual.

“Ah! Mr. Fitzgerald, I assume?”

 

An eccentric man in a business suit was what greeted the young adult in question upon entering the newly opened building. 

 

“Just call me Jeremy, sir.” The boy replied back, putting his hand out for a formal handshake.

 

The business man returned the gesture and then continued, “We’re absolutely ecstatic to have you here today, Jeremy! Come, this way, I’ll show you around”

 

Jeremy Fitzgerald was 21 years old, born and raised in New Harmony, Utah in a small quiet neighborhood that had been bustling with children of all ages, running around backyards and playgrounds without a care in the world. The neighborhood itself was a popular spot for growing families in New Harmony during the early 80s because of the local Fredbear’s Family Diner, an animatronic venue that promised “endless amounts of entertainment to kids and grownups alike”. Jeremy himself had been a bit too old for the place when it had opened in early 1980, and the 14 year old wouldn’t have had much interest in going there at all if it hadn’t been for one specific person.

 

Michael.

 

Michael Afton had been Jeremy’s best friend for the first decade of his life. Michael was the son of one of the heads of the company owning the restaurant, forcing the boy to spend much of his time there. And, of course, Jeremy would tag along for the ride. The two of them were a menace together, causing all sorts of childish mischief in their early years and plenty of teasing and pranks in their teens. A duo from hell, Michael’s father had called them. They were inseparable from the moment they met, But things didn’t stay that way forever.

 

As it stands now, Jeremy hasn’t seen him in three years. No one has.

 

“So, Jeremy, have you been to one of our establishments before?”

 

Jeremy cleared his mind, returning his attention to the man walking in the corridor beside him.

 

“Y-Yeah” he stammers “I’m from Harmony, south from here. We used to have one,”

 

“Ah yes! The ol’ Fredbear’s place” the man recalls, “How tragic that place was, really. Quite a shame...”

 

The man began to recount the tale, yet Jeremy already knew the story all too well. He was there, after all. Hell, he was a part of what happened. They called it many things like “The Bite Of 83” or “The Fredbear Fratricide”. Jeremy didn’t care what fancy title they went with, and frankly, he found it disgusting that they would give such a thing some glamorous, over-the-top name.

 

It was an accident, yes, but that didn’t make it any less damaging. 

 

He came back to reality come the end of the man's rambling. “We hope those memories don’t change how you view our location here. We promise that this restaurant is the safest place on earth!”

 

“No, no, it’s fine, I remember the place quite fondly” this wasn’t completely untrue, yet the sound of bone crushing under metal would forever haunt him in his dreams. “My time there as a kid is what lead me to want to work here, actually-“

 

Jeremy stopped himself as they entered the main party room. It was huge, sporting a very tall roof, rows and rows of tables and arcade games, and a large stage with a bright red curtain accompanying it. On the stage stood what Jeremy recognized as the characters from his childhood, yet different. They were plastic now, shiny and new. It was surreal to look at. He spun around, taking it all in. It was so different from what he remembered, yet still so familiar. He backed up, trying to get a better look at the stage, but felt himself run into something behind him.

 

He spun around quickly, only getting a small glimpse of striking blue eyes before they were quickly hidden away behind the hood of a dark purple jacket. The person he had bumped into was tall and thin (too thin, he thinks, and too pale), wearing worn out yet fairly casual clothing. They looked to be in their early twenties, but it was difficult to tell. They had pulled their hood over their face, hiding it as if ashamed at what the world may see behind it.

 

“Oh, sorry, uh-“ he stumbles on his words, looking for a quick apology. “I didn’t see you-“ he started, but the hooded figure had already turned and was quickly crossing the room, more interested in the floor than making eye contact.

 

Jeremy stood bewildered, not sure what just happened.

 

“Ah, don’t mind him,” the business man chimed in “He’s always like that,”

 

“Who was that..?” Jeremy asks, curiosity taking over.

 

“Fritz Smith, he works security during the dayshift,” the man pauses, thinking “He’s a bit early today.” The man shook his head, “Mr. Smith is a bit of a... shy one, to put nicely, kinda jumpy, so I wouldn’t worry too much about how he reacted”

 

Jeremy nods, making a mental note to apologize next time he saw the employee.

 

Fritz. It just didn’t sound quite right to him. Something about the name didn’t fit the man it belonged to. He couldn’t shake the subtle feeling of deja-vu that came over him when he saw those bright blue eyes, yet he couldn’t seem to place where he had seen them before.

 

“Now,” the booming voice of the man brought him back to reality, “I believe we’ve done enough looking around here, so let’s get you ready for work tonight!”

 

“T-Tonight? What about-“

 

“Don’t worry about any interviews, you’re already hired, bud!”

 

Jeremy, still in shock over the quickness of his hiring, let himself be dragged into a back room off to the side of the stage. He took one more look back and locked eyes Fritz once more, his blue eyes watching them beneath the shadows cast by his hood, the features of his pale face sunken in, giving him a ghostly appearance. He gazed at them idly, calm, yet tense, like he was watching a wildfire from a safe distance.

Jeremy only kept his gaze for a moment before disappearing into the backstage room, out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I haven’t done this before at all, so god help me.
> 
> I may or may not continue this, depending on if I have the inspiration for it or not.
> 
> -Scoops


	2. Eventide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eventide: The end of the day; evening
> 
> Jeremy was starting to seriously regret his career choice.

  
Jeremy was starting to seriously regret his career choice.   
  
A full day of running around town had left him feeling absolutely exhausted by the end of it. And, of course, he just had to apply for a grave shift job.   
  
Well, at least the office was bright (unlike the rest of the building). He hoped that would be enough to keep him awake.   
  
Sitting down at the slate gray desk, he took a moment to observe his surroundings.   
  
Like the rest of the building, the place was covered wall to wall in crayon scribblings of the mascots, children’s drawings, yet the place was too new for there to be so many of them already. Upon closer inspection, he got his answer: Some of them were drawings of the older characters, the ones from his childhood. He assumed they were being reused to make the place appear more lively.   
  
The office was cluttered full of tv monitors, yet it didn’t seem like they had been used in a long time. His desk had a large, metal fan that made a gentle whir as it spun. Trash and discarded papers were scattered around the room. Wires hung from the ceiling uselessly, not attached to anything. There was a poster of the new mascots on one of the walls, demanding all who saw it to “Celebrate!” The office also had an unnecessarily large doorway and two open vents on either side.    
  
He thought about that for a moment.  _ ‘Why were the vents open?’ _   
  
He shook his head. This company was crazy.   
  
Jeremy nearly feel out of his seat when the phone suddenly rang. He hadn’t even seen the phone which was, for some god forsaken reason, under the desk, beside a tablet, flashlight, and an empty mascot head. He picked up the bright blue receiver and put it on speaker.   
__  
_ “Uh, hello? Hello, hello? Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job...” _ -actually, it was the middle of November-  _ “at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path.” _ \- exciting was a bit of an exaggeration.   
__  
_ “Uh, now, I want you to forget anything you may have heard about the old location,” _ \- easier said than done - _ “you know. Uh, some people still have a somewhat negative impression of the company. Uh... that old restaurant was kind of left to rot for quite a while,” _ \- by a while, he meant about four years - _ “They've spent a small fortune on these new animatronics, uh, facial recognition, advanced mobility, they even let them walk around during the day. Isn't that neat?” _ \- been there, done that - _ “But most importantly, they're all tied into some kind of criminal database, so they can detect a predator a mile away. Heck, we should be paying them to guard you.” _ __  
  
Jeremy laughed at the mental image of those giant kids toys being bodyguards.    
  
_ “Uh, now that being said, no new system's without its... kinks.” _ \- oh boy -  _ “Uh... you're only the second guard to work at that location. Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions. Uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right?” _ __  
  
The first guy must have been Fritz, he thought.    
  
Lucky. Bastard.   
  
_ “Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office.” _ \- from what he knew about Fritz, he’d probably be concerned about his own shadow following him -  _ “So while our engineers don't really have an explanation for this, the working theory is that... the robots were never given a proper "night mode". So when it gets quiet, they think they're in the wrong room, so then they go try to find where the people are, and in this case, that's your office.”  _ __  
  
Fantastic.   
  
_ “So our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed” _ -he turned on said video feed as he listened-  _ “and wind it up for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to affect all of the animatronics, but it does affect... one of them.” _ \- greeeeaaaaat   
  
He flipped to the Prize Corner on the tablet and wound the box as the man on the phone continued:   
__  
_ “Uh, and as for the rest of them, we have an even easier solution. You see, there may be a minor glitch in the system, something about robots seeing you as an exoskeleton without his costume on, and wanting to stuff you in a suit,”  _ \- christ, what the hell -  _ “so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head, problem solved! You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want. Eventually anything that wandered in, will wander back out.”  _ __  
  
He wasn’t all the fond of that idea. Wearing a mask reminded him too much of...   
  
The Bite, for lack of a better term.   
  
_ “Uh, something else worth mentioning is kind of the modern design of the building. You may have noticed there are no doors for you to close, heh. But hey, you have a light! And even though your flashlight can run out of power, the building cannot. So, don't worry about the place going dark. Well, I think that's it. Uh, you should be golden. Uh, check the lights, put on the Freddy head if you need to, uh, keep the music box wound up, piece of cake. Have a good night, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.” _ __  
  
There was ‘clunk’ on the other side before the line went dead. Jeremy sighed, hanging up the phone. He checked the time on the camera feed.   
  
2 AM   
  
This was going to be a long night.   
  
—————————————————   
  
Nothing happened for the next hour, which had felt more like a year. Jeremy had spent the entire time watching the feed, looking for movement. He wondered if they were just waiting for him to stop watching...   
  
He inwardly slapped himself, they can’t wait for anything, they’re robots! Just dumb robots!   
  
He leaned back, sticking his legs out on the desk (unintentionally making some papers fall to the ground as he did so) and flipped back over to the Prize Corner. It was only a fourth depleted, but he rewound it anyway.   
  
He could’ve probably slept through the whole shift if it weren’t for the phone guys warnings. Something about the way he described the characters just creeped him out. It reminded him of-    
  
White noise suddenly filled the room, making Jeremy jump. The camera feed had temporarily turned off before coming back.  _ Oooookaaaay? _ That was... odd.   
  
He wound the box one last time before switching back to the stage.   
  
Bonnie was gone.   
  
Shiiiiiiiiiiit.   
  
Jeremy cycled through the feed, trying to find the plastic rabbit. He stopped at one of the party rooms, where he could see the silhouette of something hiding in the dark. Hitting the button for the camera again, he turned on the camera light. And there he was, Bonnie the bunny in all his bright blue, plastic glory. “The fuck..?” Jeremy stared at the screen.  _ ‘How did he get there so quickly..?’ _ He hadn’t heard anything move. Maybe the static covered it up.    
  
Glancing up from the screen, he flashed his light down the hall, just for good measure.   
  
Nothing.   
  
The cameras buzzed out again for a moment before coming back on. Bonnie and moved again, and there was a shuffle in the distance.   
  
He checked the stage. Chica had left too. He found her at the next camera over, in the hall by the bathrooms. Or, at least he was pretty sure it was her. Her beak was missing and her eyes were invisible in the dark, save for two white pinpricks of light. _ ‘No, she couldn’t have. The beak must have just fallen off when she left the stage, right? Right...’  _   
  
  
One down, now to find the other.   
  
Finding the rabbit again was much easier than the first time. He had just moved into the room across the hall. Now, he was a little bit too close to the security camera.   
  
_ ‘Do they know I’m watching them? No, no, that’s ridiculous,’ _   
  
A warning flickered on the screen next to the prize corner. Shit. He had forgotten about that. He rushed to wind it back up, not wanting to find out what would happen if he let it wind down.    
  
A strange noise started to echo through the building, like an alarm, but it was playing too slow. He was on edge now, anxiety catching up to him. Something wasn’t right here. They were supposed to just be glitching out, right? So why did it seem like they were aware of what they were doing.   
  
There was a thump to his right.    
  
Without giving it a second thought, he threw the mask on. It was old, dusty, and decaying. It smelt like a dead body, but he didn’t have time to complain. Right now, he needed to survive.    
  
Something moved in the hall ahead of him, and there was more clanging to the right. Jeremy contemplated making a run for it, but before he could, the light started to flicker like mad, disorienting him. In the haze of it all, he saw a figure looming over him.   
  
Before him stood Bonnie, eyes wide and mouth agape, as if he had just found someone in some demented game of hide and seek. His plastic, lifeless eyes looked crazed as they glanced through the eyes of the mask, meeting Jeremy’s in a stone cold glare.    
  
Bonnie stayed there, staring into the mask for a good minute before disappearing back from whence he came. The light faded back to normal and Jeremy practically ripped the mask right off his head, coughing and taking a deep breath.   
  
Holy shit, how was he still alive.   
  
While he was still trying to catch his breath, a chime went off in the room. He frantically look around for the source, discovering that it had come from the security tablet.   
  
The display had turned from the camera feed to a small display of the time, alongside some animated confetti.   
  
6 AM. Shift over.   
  
Thank. Fuck.   
  
He almost ran out of the office, rubbing his temples in an attempt to sooth the headache the flashing lights had given him.    
  
__ ‘What on Earth was all that?!’  He wracked his brain to find some sort of explanation as to what just happened. The whole ‘glitch’ thing didn’t explain the cameras and the lights going out. What about Chica, who he was very sure had purposefully removed her beak rather than it falling off. Why on earth would she be programmed to do something like that?    
  
Were they going to kill him?   
  
He was so lost in thought he didn’t realize that someone else had entered the building, and ended up running right into them.   
  
“Oh SH— S-Sorry I-... Fritz?”   
  
The boy in question, who had stumbled back a few steps, met eyes with Jeremy, before letting out sigh of relief.   
  
“Fritz, your shift doesn’t start till this afternoon! W-What are you doing here?”   
  
“I just-“ his voice came out rough and he cleared his throat, “I... just wanted to make sure you didn’t-“ he hesitated, looking at the floor and rethinking his words “-t-that you made it through the night. That’s all,”   
  
When Jeremy didn’t respond he looked up. Jeremy looked like Fritz had just confessed to a murder.   
  
“...I-If you don’t want me too do that-“   
  
“No, no! It’s fine! Uh... just,” Jeremy thought of something quick, “didn’t expect you to do something like that!” He blurted out   
  
“That’s reasonable,” Fritz replied simply, returning his gaze to the floor.   
  
Meanwhile, Jeremy was inwardly screaming.   
  
Fritz was British.    
He sounded just like-   
  
He shook his head a little bit, trying to clear his thoughts   
  
‘C’mon, it’s not like he’s the only Brit in all of Utah. Get yourself together!’   
  
“So, uh...” Jeremy muttered, trying to break the awkward silence that had drifted over them.   
  
“Coffee.”   
  
“E-Excuse me?”   
  
“T-,” Fritz cleared his throat again, “there’s coffee in the kitchen, if you need any”    
  
The day guard pointed to a door near the front of the building.   
  
“Thanks..” Jeremy said, not sure what to say. “Do you want any..?”    
  
“Uh-“ Fritz was the one who was shocked this time, “N-...No, I’m good. I need to get going, anyway,”   
  
Fritz turned quickly and started heading for the door.   
  
“Oh, uh, okay! See ya, I guess”   
  
And just like that, Jeremy was alone again.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! look! I actually continued it!
> 
> I tried to make this one a bit longer than the last, so uh,
> 
> yeah
> 
> I'll update again next whenever-I-get-Inspo
> 
> -Scoops


	3. Premonition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Premonition: a strong feeling that something bad is about to happen.
> 
>  
> 
> He wanted to believe that his childhood friend had simply moved away, trying to escape the trauma of his life and start anew, but he knew better.

  
_It was him. No doubt about it. Even through the fog of time, he knew it was him. Sitting on the tile floor, leaning on the wall, limp, lifeless, still. The world came to a grinding halt_

_Jeremy approached slowly, carefully, unease settled in the air, he moved closer, each step pounding, echoing in his head. Jeremy looked down. He was far too pale, far too thin, far too still, corpse like. Jeremy reached out and touched his shoulder._

_His head shot up, too fast, inhuman, eyes like daggers quickly stabbing into his soul. A wire, a metal wire was tied around his neck, choking, choking, eyes. Those eyes were dead, dull, the color sapped out, dead, yet they focused without falter. The wires spread, they were around them both, trapping them. He grabbed a hold of Jeremy’s neck, rasping out a cry:_

_“P l e a s e. . .”_  
_“G e t o u t”_

Jeremy awoke with a start, throwing his hands over his mouth to stop himself from screaming. His eyes shifted around, where was he? Where was-?

Oh.  
It was just a dream.

He let out a sigh of relief, then checked the time.

4:47 P.M.

Oh joy

Jeremy pushed his blankets off and climbed out of bed, avoiding stepping on various objects on his messy floor as he made his way out of his room. He might as well eat something now while he can.

 

After turning the T.V. on in an attempt to make the small space less quiet, and grabbing a box (yes, the entire box) of cereal out of the cupboard, Jeremy plopped down on the small red couch in the middle of the room, using the coffee table in front of it as a leg rest.

He wasn’t watching the T.V., not really, his mind was wandering back to before he woke. The dream he had. Well, nightmare, he supposed. He didn’t dream often, and when he did, he didn’t tend to remember them once he woke up. This was an exception, it seemed, cause he still remembered every last detail of it. The tile floor, the wires, the dust in the air, and him: Michael.

(Much like how it was in reality,) Jeremy hadn’t seen Michael in his dreams in 3 years. And when Michael did visit his dreams, they turned frightening and hyper-realistic. The last time this happened was around the last time anyone saw him. His body twisted in impossible ways, the wires tearing him apart from the inside, and those eyes... those violet eyes… Jeremy shook the image out of his head. Soon after that Michael fell of the face of the Earth, and the rumors went wild.

He wanted to believe that his childhood friend had simply moved away, trying to escape the trauma of his life and start anew, but he knew better.

Mike has started that damned job the week before, and had told him that Friday before he left that “If I don’t come back home by tomorrow, call the police.” Jeremy had took it as a joke at first, given Mike’s tendency to use dark or sarcastic humor, but one look into the boy’s cornflower eyes changed his mind. So when Michael did return the next morning, he had assumed that everything was fine.

But something was off about Michael. He was absurdly happy, ESPECIALLY compared to how deadpan (and sometimes generally unpleasant) he usually was to other people. His walk was off, stumbling a bit, moving almost like he’d forgotten how. And when Jeremy had tried to talk to his friend again, there was no recognition in his eyes.

He stopped talking to Michael after the dream, because he had told him something that still sends a shiver down his spine.

He looked at him, dead in the eye, laughed at him, and said:

“Did you sleep well last night?”

———————————————

The bright red door of Freddy’s opened with a slight screech of the hinges. Moonlight filtered in, making the white tiles of the checkered floor shine in the dark. Jeremy closed the door behind him and flicked on his flashlight. He scanned the room, almost expecting to see some mechanical beast leap from the shadows. The entrance room had a counter for customers to pay the entrance fee and...  
Well other than that the room was bare. Completely dull save for the posters and menus on the wall.

Moving on from there, he made his way towards the office in the back. He was halfway there before he stopped in the same hallway he saw Chica the night before. ‘Was that door always there?’

  
There was a door at the end of the hallway that he hadn’t noticed the other night. It had a dark label on the front that read “Parts & Service” and it was left open ever so slightly. He tried to push it the rest of the was closed, but it was stuck in place. How had he missed it the night before? Shrugging it off, he headed back on his path to the office.

Taking a seat in the tattered swivel chair, he retrieved his mask and tablet from under the desk and kicked back, waiting for the phone to signal the beginning of his shift.

12:00 A.M.

_ “Ah...hello, hello! Uh, see, I told you your first night wouldn't be a problem. You're a natural!” _ __  
  
_ “Uh, by now I'm sure you've noticed the older models sitting in the back room.” _ -older models?-  _ “Uh, those are from the previous location. We just use them for parts now.” _ -he scrambled to find the camera he was talking about-  _ “The idea at first was to repair them...uh, they even started retrofitting them with some of the newer technology, but they were just so ugly, you know?”  _ -looking at them now, yeah they were pretty ugly at the moment-  __ “and the smell...” -???- 

  
_ “uh, so the company decided to go in a whole new direction and make them super kid-friendly.” _ -Yeah. Kid-friendly-  _ “Uh, those older ones shouldn't be able to walk around,” _ -they’re gonna walk around, aren’t they?-  _ “but if they do,” _ -called it-  _ “the whole Freddy head trick should work on them too, so, whatever. _ __  
_ Uh...heh...I love those old characters. Did you ever see Foxy the pirate?” _ -he wished, according to Mike, Foxy was the best- _ “Oh wait, hold on” _ -oh, come on-  _ “oh yeah, Foxy! Uh, hey listen, that one was always a bit twitchy,” _ -‘god damnit Michael,’ he thought bitterly-  _ “uh...I'm not sure the Freddy head trick will work on Foxy, uh. If for some reason he activates during the night and you see him standing at the far end of the hall, just flash your light at him from time to time. Those older models would always get disoriented with bright lights. It would cause a system restart, or something.”  _ -‘Foxy is cool’, he said, ‘you’d love him’, he said-  _ “One more thing - don't forget the music box. I'll be honest, I never liked that puppet thing.” _ -PUPPET THING?-  _ “It was always...thinking,” _ \- THINKING???-  _ “and it can go anywhere...I don't think a Freddy mask will fool it, so just don't forget the music box.” _ __  
  
_ “Anyway, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Uh, have a good night, and talk to you tomorrow.” _ __  


He was starting to hate this phone guy.

——————————————

3:00 A.M.

Bonnie and Chica had payed him another visit, clattering in the vents before swiftly leaving without a trace to do god-knows-what. Freddy had also decided to come out, but was keeping his distance. (Good).

He made an effort to keep a sharp eye on the back room, waiting for something monstrous creature to kick down the door and come charging down the hall at him. He also finally found the new version of Foxy after deciding to pay more attention to the camera systems. (Or, he was pretty sure it was Foxy. It looked more like a mess of parts with a white and pink Fox head attached to it. It was making some horrible screeching sound, like an Internet dial-up tone, but a million times worse. Why the fox-thing was like that, he couldn’t fathom.) He had become fairly confident in his ability to fend them off. For now. He was taking mental notes on their behaviors and ticks.

The strange alarm sound echoed again. Someone was in the hallway. Rather than the tap,tap,tap, of plastic footsteps, he heard hard, metal clangs coming closer. He shone his light down the hall and was graced with a distant view of tattered red fur and steel. Foxy. He slowly reached a hand to grab the empty head on the desk, but stopped himself.

‘Flash the light’ he thought ‘The guy said to flash the light,’

Gingerly, he flicked the power button on and off, still aiming it down at the fox ahead of him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say the Fox looked pissed off. His light went dead for a moment before returning, showing that Foxy had disappeared.

He really, really was not expecting that to work.

4:00 A.M.

Quickly, he got back on the camera system, gave the music box some attention, and then moved on to check the parts and service room.

Bonnie

Why was it always Bonnie?

Switching to the hallway outside, he found the dismantled rabbit, standing awkwardly in the hallway. It had no face, only a useless lower jaw and two red lights that would normally shine behind the plastic orbs, giving their dead eyes more life. It’s remaining hand twitched, almost impatiently.

A chill went down his spine. Somehow, the broken down state of these older animatronics made them even more unsettling. While they had the uncanny valley on their side when in repair, they became no more than cold soulless robots when not. The cameras sputtered out static, and Jeremy had become accustomed to what that meant. Movement. Which was counterproductive, saying this was a security system.

He put the tablet down and check out the door. As expected, Bonnie was waiting for him, staring emotionlessly forward. ‘He looks like the terminator, but... a rabbit,’ he joked to himself, flatly.

A warning sign popped up on the tablet. Shit, that’s right. He attended to the music box, trying not to take his eye off Bonnie, who stayed in place. He took Bonnie’s time stalling to his advantage to check what the rest of them were doing. Chica was in a party room, Bonnie (as in the newer one) was across the hall from her, that Foxy like... Thing hadn’t moved, and Freddy had gone back to the stage where he started. He looked back up and found that Bonnie and been replaced by Foxy (the older one, not the train-wreck). Jeremy sighed and flickered the light again, waiting for him to leave.

As he did, something thumped in the vent beside him. ‘So that’s where Bonnie went...’ He reached for the mask and took a firm hold of it, ready to throw it on as soon as he could. He had found that they tended to stall at the end of the vent, completely visible, before attacking, so he’d just wait for Bonnie to do that before throwing it on. He took one more trip to the prize corner and checked the time and he rewound.

5:53 A.M.

Thank god, he was almost—

There was a loud BANG and Jeremy almost threw the tablet across the room. Reflexively, he threw the mask on, seeing Bonnie’s faded blue fur through the eyes. He hadn’t waited, like expected, he had simply entered the room without warning. If he hadn’t made a sound...

The lights flickered like mad as Bonnie stood there, staring down at him with those piercing red lights. Bonnie didn’t leave until he seemed satisfied with what he found, coming to the conclusion that no one was there and clanking off down the hall.

‘Okay. Broken ones don’t wait. They just attack. Got it.’ He noted. ‘Just 3 more nights, Jeremy, just 3 more nights’

The compressed celebratory sound of the tablet alarm sounded, announcing that it was now 6:00 A.M. to the world. Jeremy threw the head across the room as he took it off (silently hoping it wouldn’t break) and kicked the swivel chair as he stood. Thank GOD he was done for the night.

Watching where he was going this time, he power walked his way to the main party room. He was about to get the hell out of the cursed building when the sound of music caught his attention. It wasn’t the music box, rather, it sounded electronic. He wondered in the direction it was coming from, stepping carefully and lightly, silently cursing himself. ‘This is stupid! This is stupid! This is how you end up being the first to die in horror films, this is stupid!’

It didn’t take long to find the source: One of the arcade machines was on and was playing a demo of the gameplay. Jeremy let out an annoyed sigh, dragging a hand down his face. “Why is this thing on..?” Deciding to find a way to turn it off, he pressed one of the buttons on the machine, shutting the demo off and displaying the title screen. He paused, considering...

‘I am not doing this’

‘I am NOT doing this’

He put a coin in the slot.

‘Fuck it, I’m doing this’

Almost instantly, the machine bugged out, red lines bouncing around the screen before a picture was finally shown. He was stunned for only a moment, before realizing that the game was prompting him to play. He complied, hesitantly.

TAKE CAKE TO THE CHILDREN.

Simple enough.

The game was actually quite boring, to be critical. As Freddy, give kids cake, make them stop throwing a tantrum. Just go in circles and win. He was about to leave, bored at the simplicity of the game, when he noticed an older specific detail. One of the children was outside of the stage, and they were... crying?

What?

Jeremy attempted to get outside the map to no avail. ‘Why would anyone program this?’ He thought, struggling to find a rhyme or reason for the unsettling sprite. Then, the car, (a purple car, to be exact,) pulled up outside the building, and a sprite of a man, the same color as his vehicle, stepped out and stood beside the child. He had a strange expression of glee and dead, pitch black eyes. The child beside him started crying more, the tears exaggerated to the point they reached the floor, before the child went completely gray. Jeremy could no longer move the small sprite of Freddy on screen, and helplessly watched the sprite of the man reenter the car and speed off. The screen flickered red again and returned to the title screen. ‘What the actual-‘

“What are you doing?”

Jeremy caught himself on the machine, “Fritz, god- you almost gave me a heart attack!” He exclaimed, wonder how on Earth Fritz could move so silently

“Pardon,” Fritz apologized simply, “but that doesn’t answer my question,”

“Oh, uh..” he looked back at the arcade box, which was now displaying a black screen, “I was just, uh... playing one of the games! Yeah, I got distracted on the way out and ended up here!”

Fritz gave him a skeptical look before walking over to Jeremy, “Really now?”

“Aha.. yeah, I know it’s childish and all but I couldn’t help myself” Jeremy replied, scratching the back of his head before returning his attention to Fritz. “What are you doing?”

Fritz had gotten down on one knee beside the machine and picked something up. “It’s not plugged in”

“Excuse me?”

“The game,” Fritz replied blankly, holding up the power cord “It’s not plugged in,”

Jeremy froze. “B-But it was—“

“It doesn’t matter. You should go home and rest,” Fritz interrupted, “You could just be sleep deprived,”

“Yeah...” Jeremy mumbled after a moment, not fully believing the explanation

There was a moment of silence between the two before Fritz called back his attention, patting him on the shoulder

“Don’t overwork yourself, Jeremy.”

And with that, Fritz left his side, heading off towards the office before Jeremy could even think of a reply.

Jeremy followed his advice and headed outside to his car. He was already 10 minutes away from the building when he realized something:

 

He never told Fritz his name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! State testing brought a bit of a slowdown to everything I work on. I’m not sure how much I like this chapter, but it does have some stuff in it that will be important later. I tried not to make the night section too short but I felt it happened anyway. Writing adaptations of the gameplay is pretty hard!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! And for those Michael fans, don’t worry, we’ll be finding out more about him through Jeremy’s past soon ;)


	4. Bygone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bygone: belonging to an earlier time.
> 
> He needed to check something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One note before we begin, I decided not to write entire nights cause they aren’t extremely important and they get really repetitive. So instead I’ll be doing summaries of the nights and focusing on the main things important in this story, that being Jeremy finding answers and talking to Fritz. 
> 
> And trust me, Fritz will be a lot more important come the next few chapters.

_ “They tried to remake Foxy, ya know? Uh, they thought the first one was too scary, so they redesigned him to be more kid-friendly and put him in Kid's Cove. To keep the toddlers entertained, you know... But kids these days just can't keep their hands to themselves. The staff literally has to put Foxy back together after every shift. So eventually they stopped trying and left him as some 'take apart and put back together' attraction. Now he's just a mess of parts. I think the employees refer to him as just ‘The Mangle’” _ __  
  
Now that was the weirdest thing he’s heard all day.    
  
Children, no, TODDLERS?    
Toddlers, WITHOUT BEING STOPPED BY ANY OF THE STAFF, somehow managed to TEAR APART A SIX FOOT STEEL ABOMINATION.   
  
It’s either Fritz is just really bad at his job or those kids were actually demons.   
  
Neither of which would surprise him, honestly.   
  
_ “...whatever is going on out there,-“  _ __  
  
Oh right the phone call, forgot about that.   
  
_ “-and however tragic it may be, has nothing to do with our establishment. It's just all rumor and speculation... People trying to make a buck. You know... Uh, our guard during the day has reported nothing unusual. And he's on watch from opening til close.” _ __  
  
‘Fritz, you absolute fuck, this whole place is unusual!’   
  
_ “Okay, well anyway, hang in there and I'll talk to you tomorrow.” _ __  
  
Night 3 was fairly uneventful (well, compared to the other nights, it was uneventful). Chica’s older counterpart emerged from the dark. She lacked hands and her jaw was popped open and dislocated. Scary, on first glance, yes, but once you realize that she doesn’t exactly have a way to harm anyone except for head butting them, she becomes more of a distraction than a threat.    
  
And, as the call implied, the ‘Mangle’ decided to leave its cove. It was just as mauled as its name implied, 3 legs, 2 heads, and many useless metal limbs. He wasn’t sure how it got around, but he presumed it was either crawling on all fours (threes?) or climbing the walls (which he hoped to god it wasn’t). Mangle was easier to deal with than it’s withered counterpart. With the constant static racket it made, you could always tell where it was, rendering the cameras virtually useless.    
  
Lastly,    
  
That fucking Ballon Kid.   
  
The one animatronic that Phone Guy had failed to mentioned thus far was humanoid, looking like a small boy with brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in a striped shirt and propeller hat. Every inch of its body was made of plastic. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if it had a metal endoskeleton. The thing had managed to slip into his office and had tried to steal his flashlight when he wasn’t looking.   
  
Jeremy gave a swift kick to its hollow midsection, and it comically toppled over with a light plastic thunk! The confrontation ended with the small robot giving him what he guessed was meant to be a glare (though it was hard to tell, given its permanent smile) before trodding off like an angry child.    
  
Post shift, (after forcing back his hysterics), he took a mental note:   
  
‘Ok, so they are sentient. I’m not just losing my mind thinking that they’re shooting judgmental looks at me. That’s weird, but considering what I’ve seen so far, it’s believable.’   
  
‘Or maybe I’m just crazy, I dunno’   
  
This brought more questions than it answered, however. Mainly, how the actual fuck did a ton of giant kids toys get sentience. No way they were programmed to be sentient. AI existed, yes, but it wasn’t advanced enough to turn bright blue bunnies into the rabbit terminator. (Or make them self aware enough to know they don’t have a face and cause them start making puns about)   
  
Only one explanation remained: ghosts.   
  
Jeremy didn’t believe in ghosts, however, and refused to believe that option, yet it was the only one that made sense at this point. Sentient objects? Malfunctioning technology? That arcade machine? None of it had a logical explanation other than something paranormal.    
  
The second question it left was simple:   
  
Why was the company ignoring it? It was as if every staff member in the building was trained to deflect questions regarding safety (or murderous robots) with some half-assed excuse. This whole place was crazy and he’s the only one who seems to notice! There was no one to go to! No one expect—   
  
_ ‘we switched him over to the day shift,’ _ __  
  
They switched him to the day shift because he knew. He wasn’t “concerned” because he was easily frightened, he figured out what was going on with the animatronics and got out while he could. He was concerned cause he knew he could die in that position. But then, why didn’t he move after the first day or so? If he was just moving to be safe, he would have done it sooner. Yet, he survived an entire week on night shift! It was almost as if he had done it before!   
  
He paused on that thought,   
  
‘Like he had done it before...’   
  
He ran out of the building immediately, ignoring the man in question as his frail formed entered the building, and getting into his car, speeding off.    
  
He needed to check something.   
  
——————————————————   
  
  
Jeremy threw his apartment door open, slamming it against the wall. If the other tenants complained, he’d deal with it later. Running into his room, he tore the closet doors open.    
  
His closet was small, but he managed to fit as much stuff as he could inside. Mostly clothes and notebooks, but also personal items that he had no room for elsewhere, tucked away in boxes. This is where he kept it. This is where he kept 1983. This is where he kept Michael.   
  
A cardboard box, tucked in the corner, labeled ‘New Harmony’. A time capsule of sorts that held everything he could collect of that year, of all those years, in one place.    
  
Carrying it out to the living room area, he placed it down on the table. It was covered in a fine layer of dust, making it feel more ancient than it was. Grabbing a pair of scissors, he cut the tape that was sealing the box off and let it pop open slightly.   
  
He had a moment's hesitation. Was he really doing this? Remembering everything that happened there all because he had a hunch? A suspicion? Was it worth it to dig up this grave?    
  
He took a deep breath. ‘It’s just a box’ he thought. Gingerly, he opened the box, and looked inside...   
  
It took 10 minutes just to remove everything from the box, and an additional 15 to organize it all. Framed pictures, polaroids, newspapers, tapes, anything that related back to it all (even a blue rabbit mask, which he threw back into the box, holding it like something rotten). The newspapers cried out about fratricide and abductions, horrible injuries and untimely deaths. He wasn’t here for newspapers, no, he was here for him.    
  
Jeremy had taken so many photos of them and their friends together, back when things were still normal. That’s what he was looking for; proof that, a long time ago, Michael was human. A person. Real. Mike wasn’t too fond of people taking pictures of him, but wouldn’t stop anyone from doing so. He wouldn’t smile for them (he wouldn’t smile for anything), and the rare moments he did, they were only caught on video. Jeremy enjoyed that about them, though. That way, the memories he had of Mike weren’t superficial. They reflected who he really was.    
  
And that was just what he needed.   
  
Picking up the best of the photographs, he moved to a counter in the kitchen, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. From there, he began writing down what was notable about his appearance.    
  
_ -brown hair; messy. maybe naturally like that _ __  
__  
_ -always wearing that stupid hoodie _ __  
__  
_ -scar on right leg  _ __  
__  
_ -blue eyes _ __  
  
There, right there.   
  
That’s what he was looking for.   
  
That was it.   
  
Blue. Eyes.    
  
Michael’s Eyes where the most striking part of his appearance. The most recognizable thing about him.    
  
If you were to put Michael and his father right next to each other, they would look exactly the same, except for the eyes. Michael’s eyes were alive. His father’s were dead.    
  
You couldn’t forget those eyes if you tried. Not in a million years. And, while blue eyes were fairly common, NO ONE had eyes like his.   
  
Expect Fritz.    
  
Fritz did a good job as hiding his appearance. His hair was hidden under his hood, he was always wearing gloves over his hands, and lastly, he wore dark glasses over his eyes. But that hadn’t stopped anyone from seeing them. Jeremy saw them on his first day. Those dark blue dots watching him like a ghost from afar. Those were Michael’s eyes.   
  
Fritz had Michael’s eyes.   
  
Fritz had his eyes, his voice, his mannerisms, he even had that dumb hoodie that he always wore.   
  
At that moment, all the Deja Vu made sense. Fritz didn’t move shifts after the first night _ because he already knew how to survive _ . He’d done it before. Michael had worked at another one of the companies locations before he disappeared. He survived an entire week there. He knew he would survive because  __ he had done it before .

  
He was Fritz.   
  
**Fritz was Michael.** ****  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay everyone, raise your hands if you called it. (Put your hands down, Alex and Lucas, you don’t count) 
> 
> I know that the hints may have made it seem really obvious, but do remember this is written from Jeremy’s perspective.
> 
> You might ask “why didnt he realize he was Michael when he heard his voice??” 
> 
> Well, simply that’s just how Jeremy’s character is. Maybe sometime after this fic is done, I’ll do a bit of character anaylisis to explain what I mean by that.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope it wasn’t too short this time around, and remember to smile! 
> 
> -Scoops


	5. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Interrogation: questioning 
> 
> “Oh it’s nothing,” he said, turning to leave 
> 
> “I just need to ask him something”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we start, I just wanna bring something up: I do not believe that Michael is the Crying Child, so this fic will not be written as such. Please don’t comment saying that he is, that doesn’t help me any.
> 
> And with that over with, Enjoy:

_ “I hardly got any sleep last night. Father was out late again, doing god knows what, so I had to take care of that twat till he came back home,” He sat up straight, “Bloody hell, It’s like that boy has a nightmare every minute! I swear if he leaves me alone with that brat another night, I’ll go mad!” _ __  
__  
_ “That’s siblings for ya, Mike” Kevin said, “they’re always finding someway to make you wanna pull your hair out,” _ __  
__  
_ “Well last time I checked, your sister isn’t crying her eyes out 24/7!” he shouted back. _ __  
__  
_ “Woah, calm down man! It was just a joke,” Kevin said defensively _ __  
__  
_ Steven gave the boy a glare from across the table “Seriously Michael, what’s your damage?”   _ __  
__  
_ Mike paused for a moment and then sighed, “Look, I’m just at my wits end at this point.” He looked the others in the eye “You know what my home life is like. Having to deal with his shit is the last thing I need right now.” _ __  
__  
_ “He’s going through the same problems you are, y’know,” Jeremy reminded him “He’s just... handling it differently” _ __  
__  
_ “Yeah, by being the most annoying little twit ever” _ __  
__  
_ “Michael—“ _ __  
__  
_ “What?” _ __  
__  
_ Jeremy took a deep breath “You’re missing the point, Mike. I’m trying to tell you to have some sympathy.” _ __  
__  
_ “Wh-? What the hell are you on about?” _ __  
__  
_ Jeremy looked to the others and leaned in close, hushing his voice “You don’t think you’re the only one who misses her, right?” _ __  
__  
_ Michael shot him a look, “We don’t talk about her, Jeremy” _ __  
__  
_ “Michael, she was his sister t—“ _ __  
__  
_ “I SAID, WE DON’T TALK ABOUT HER, OKAY?”  _ __  
_  
_ __ Jeremy was taken aback “Mike—“ he trailed off. 

 

_ Everyone in the diner was looking at them. _ __  
__  
_ Michael slammed his hands on the table and got up, storming off. _ __  
__  
_ “Michael!” _ __  
__  
_ “Don’t bother, Jeremy” Kevin muttered, exasperated, “he’s having another one of those days” _ __  
__  
_ “This is the third time this week,” Steven pointed out, bitterly _ __  
__  
_ “It’s happening more often,” Jeremy mumbled, “I’m starting to get worried...” _ __  
__  
_ “Oh come on, J, he’ll be fine!” Kevin tried to reassure him, “just give him a few days and he’ll bounce right back” _ __  
__  
_ Jeremy sat quietly for a moment, thinking “...you saw it right?”  _ __  
__  
_ “Saw what?” Steven asked, confused _ __  
__  
_ “Mike’s face” Jeremy said, “it was bruised” _ __  
__  
_ The other boys paused, looking to each other _ __  
__  
_ “Well.. yeah, I just assumed he got in a fight or something...” _ __  
__  
_ Jeremy looked down at a table, pondering his words before looking up at the other boys with a stern expression. _ __  
__  
_ “His Dad came home late again,” _ __  
__  
_ ————————————————— _ __  
  
“Y-You know, I don’t mean to question your judgement sir, but we’re in pretty hot water already,” the man adjusted his glasses, “Taking this sort of risk now-“   
  
“Scott, I’ll handle everything regarding the issue. Just focus on your job, okay?”   
  
“But Henry, what if he-“   
  
The door to the backstage area flew open. Scott, startled, fumbled to his feet. “U-Uh, Mr. Fitzgerald! You’re here, uh...” he checked his watch and cleared his throat “...early”    
  
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Jeremy took a look around the room “Am I interrupting something?”   
  
“Oh, well uh-“   
  
“No. You’re fine.” Henry interjected “what do you need?”   
  
“I was um,” Jeremy started, thinking for a moment, “wondering where to find the day guard?”   
  
Henry raised a brow before looking to Scott, who fumbled around for a clipboard “Uh, well, dayshift is handled by Mr. Smith, he’s here from 11 to 5, but you can usually catch him here much earlier than that—“   
  
“He was asking where, Scott, not when”    
  
“O-Oh, um” he re-adjusted his glasses again, “the office in the back, just like night shift” Scott looked up at Jeremy, “Why do you need to know?”   
  
“Oh it’s nothing,” he said, turning to leave    
  
“I just need to ask him something”   
  
———————————————————   
  
_ “Thanks for letting me crash, J.” Michael took a seat on Jeremy’s bed after entering his room. _ __  
__  
_ “It’s nothing, really,” Jeremy sat down next to him, “I know how much you’ve needed a break from home,” _ __  
__  
_ Mike huffed, “Tell me something I don’t know,” _ __  
_  
_ __ Jeremy laughed, Michael made an attempt to smile.

 

_ “Will your brother be okay?” Jeremy asked “Y’know, being alone with him?” _ __  
__  
_ Mike sighed, “Father’s up in Hurricane for the night,” he took his shoes off and threw them across the room “he’ll be fine on his own,” _ __  
__  
_ “Are you sure?” _ __  
__  
_ “He knows how to take care of himself,”  _ __  
__  
_ “Really?” _ __  
__  
_ “We have to take care of ourselves, both of us,” Mike stretched, “Else we’d both starve to death, probably.” _ __  
__  
_ ‘Their father really doesn’t care, does he..?’ Jeremy thought bitterly. “He’s only six years old, isn’t he?” _ __  
__  
_ “He’ll be seven in a couple days,” Michael laughed, hollowly “what a great way to spend my Friday, eh? Babysitting my stupid brother,” He ran a hand through his hair “Can you put some music on or something? The silence is killing me” _ __  
__  
_ “Of course, of course” Jeremy got up and went over to his desk, pushing aside the unfinished school assignments and broken pencils, and sorted through his vinyls. “I’m sure the party won’t be that bad, Mike.” _ __  
__  
_ “Yeah, if my brother ever decides to leave me alone,” Michael scoffed _ __  
__  
_ Jeremy finally chose a vinyl to play and put in on the player, “Aw, c’mon man, I’m sure we’ll find some way to get him off your back,” Michael took a long pause, as if he was considering something. _ __  
__  
_ “You know what?” He said “I think I’ve already figured out how we’re gonna do that,” _ __  
__  
_ —————————————————— _ __  
  
Looking at the layout of the security room now, he had no idea how Fritz managed to keep the customers out. The side vents were connected directly to two of the party rooms, with nothing stopping children from crawling into them (hell, he could fit in there with plenty of space left if he wanted). Not to mention the huge entryway door that anyone could come through at any time.

  
Well, at least it was easy to find him.   
  
Jeremy stood in the huge doorway of the room looking in. Fritz (Michael?) was pacing the room, writing in a notebook with a bright red pen. He hadn’t noticed Jeremy yet (or, perhaps he did, and just didn’t want to acknowledge him?), busy off in his own world. Jeremy took a moment to reflect. What would even even say to him? ‘Hey, I think you’re my best friend who just disappeared without a word and I’m kinda freaking out about it! Also everyone in New Harmony thinks you’re a fucking zombie or something, isn’t that just fantastic?’ Yeah, that wasn’t gonna work.    
  
Well, time to stop delaying the inevitable “Fritz?”    
  
Fritz turned to look at him. The glasses he normally wore were off now, his blue eyes exposed. “Jeremy.” He muttered, and then turned his attention back to his notebook, “you’re here early”   
  
“I could say the same for every time I see you,” Jeremy quipped,    
  
“Why are you here, then?” Fritz asked without even looking away from his work.   
  
Jeremy faltered. ‘Shit,’ “Oh well, uh, I was just wondering how things were going for you. Didn’t really uh-“ he stepped over a mess of wires on the floor, walking into the office “-stop to talk this morning,”   
  
“Yeah...” Fritz closed the notebook, placing it on the desk  “you looked like you were in quite the hurry...”   
  
‘When did he get so intimidating?’ Jeremy mused “Uh.. yeah I guess I wa-“ “Mind telling me  _ why _ , exactly?” Fritz interrupted him.    
  
He continued when Jeremy didn’t respond “it’s not like something was chasing you, after all. They all go back where they came from after 6,” Fritz looked him dead in the eye, blue orbs seeming less alive and more like the dead, plastic eyes of the animatronics, “so why where you running?”   
  
‘He’s onto me,’ he thought, panicked “I had... somewhere to be uh,—“ he looked around, avoiding eye contact, “I had to check something... important”   
  
Fritz’s expression hardened “What could be so important that you had to leave in such a hurry, hm?”   
  
“Why do you care so much, huh?” Jeremy said defensively, “You don’t even really know me! Why do you care so much about my survival in the first place?”   
  
Fritz was taken aback ever so slightly, a subtle change in expression that told Jeremy he pulled just the right string.    
  
“...You already know me, don’t you? We met long before this and you know it.”    
  
Fritz glared at him, “You don’t know me,” his voice was sharp, menacing, “you don’t know  _ anything _ about who I am, and trust me, you don’t want to find out,”   
  
“Yeah?” Jeremy was determined, “Well I know that you’re from New Harmony too.” He began to circle around the desk to face Fritz directly, “I know who you really are. I don’t know if you’d expected me to forget, but I know what you’ve been through,”   
  
Something in Fritz snapped, “You don’t know what I’ve been through,” he nearly shouted “you don’t know what my world looks like,”   
  
“I don’t know what changed for you,” Jeremy was standing directly in front of him now, “But I can still help you, just help me understand—“   
  
“Understand what, Jeremy?!”    
  
“Understand what the hell happened to you 3 years ago, Michael!”   
  
Fritz pushed Jeremy away from him forcefully, as if by saying the name he had attacked him.   
  
“Don’t you  _ dare _ call me that...” his voice was laced with poison, “Don’t you fucking dare...”   
  
Jeremy, who had stumbled and almost fell, gave him a stern look “Michael, please. Just talk to me—“   
  
Fritz snatched his notebook off the desk and began to leave. “Michael—“ Jeremy called after him, “Michael, please—“ Fritz didn’t stop “For fucks sake, Michael Afton, stop being so stubborn and talk to me-!“    
  
“MICHAEL AFTON IS  _ DEAD _ , YOU HEAR ME?!”    
  
Jeremy stopped in his tracks. A few children peaked their heads out of the party rooms to see what has happening.   
  
“Michael Afton is  _ dead _ ...” he repeated, almost mournfully, “he died on the sidewalk along with every hope he ever had,”    
  
Fritz turned and left. Jeremy didn’t try to stop him. He just stood shocked as the restaurants patrons muttered among themselves, wondering what had just happened.   
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a side note: The two kids Jeremy and Mike were with in flashback 1, Kevin and Steven, are the other 2 masked bullies from FNaF4 (the Freddy and Chica ones). 
> 
> The guy named Scott is the Phone Guy, as you might have guessed.


	6. Wiretap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wiretap: to conduct sueveillance over a phone line 
> 
> This place was going to drive him insane, if it hadn’t already.

_"...Ok, so uh, just to update you, uh, there's been somewhat of an, uh, investigation going on. Uh, we may end up having to close for a few days... I don't know. I want to emphasize though that it's really just a precaution. Uh, Fazbear Entertainment denies any wrongdoing. These things happen sometimes. Um... It'll all get sorted out in a few days. Just keep an eye on things and I'll keep you posted._ __  
__  
_“Uh, just as a side note though, try to avoid eye contact with any of the animatronics tonight if you can. Someone may have tampered with their facial recognition systems - we're not sure. But the characters have been acting very unusual, almost aggressive towards the staff. They interact with the kids just fine, but when they encounter an adult, they just...stare..._ __  
__  
_“Uh...Anyways, hang tight. It'll all pass. Good night!”_ __  
  
Oh _great_ , everything is going off the handle, just what he needed tonight. The Animatronics were already out before Phone Guy (who Jeremy assumed was the man named Scott from earlier) even finished his first sentence. There was almost something panicked about the way they were moving around, something desperate. Like a crowd trapped in a building they knew was about to go up in flames. Some part of him almost felt bad for them.  
  
Almost.  
  
He finally caught a glimpse of what Scott had so gracefully referred to as “That puppet thing”. Due to how crazed the rest of them were, he almost let the music box go unwound. And Scott was right about it being unnerving, cause Jeremy was having a hard time believing this thing was made for children. Something about the huge masked doll just didn’t sit right with him. Something about it felt... wrong.  
  
He made a mental note to never let that thing get out.  
  
All-in-all, the fourth night left him with almost no time to stop and take a breather, not to mention the free time for extra sleep he missed out on due to his ‘talk’ with Fritz earlier (who he was trying to keep out of mind. He was, to say the least, fucking pissed off at the other guard). He was sure that he was starting to see things. Somewhere around 4 A.M., he thought he saw a strange shadowy version of Freddy (the older one) in the back room, but it was only there for a moment before disappearing in a blink of an eye. He also swore to god he saw another one of that balloon kid hiding under his desk, and that it had simply ducked away before he would catch it.  
  
This place was going to drive him insane, if it hadn’t already.   
  
When his shift _finally_ came to an end, he felt like he was ready to sleep the rest of the day away. On his way out, however, the sound of static caught his attention. ‘It’s the arcade again,’ he thought.   
  
Weaving his way through the maze of arcade boxes, he found the one that was acting up. He checked and, like before, it wasn’t even plugged in, yet it was somehow still able to turn on.   
  
“Alright then...” he mumbled to himself, quietly, gentle putting a hand on the control stick, “Let’s play,”  
  
Almost as if to reply, the static sputtered out to reveal another game behind its shroud.  
  
The first screen was simple: Foxy standing in front of a purple curtain. The room didn’t have anything else in it, not even tables. The game instructed the player to wait for a few seconds before telling them to ‘GO! GO! GO!’   
  
The second screen was just as plain as the first, just a small room with nothing but 5 children, all represented with the same sprite. The game then congratulated the player and reset itself.  
  
‘Jeez, you’d think whoever’s making these would at least make them more exciting,’   
  
He repeated the games process again, only to be granted with the same congratulatory “HURRAY!” and put right back where he started. And, just like they did last time, things changed.  
  
The same purple sprite from before had returned, much easier to see now. A man with an unnerving smile, who seemed to be anticipating what would happen once Foxy left the room. Jeremy already had an idea as to what came next. Just like the child from the game before, the five children in the second screen had become gray and motionless, tear stains lining their faces and going all the way down to the floor. It was a massacre, and the purple man had been waiting for someone to see it.  
  
The static suddenly returned, making Jeremy jump and move away from the box. After a few moments to appeared to shut itself off, apparently done with its demonstration. After letting his body calm down, he left the labyrinth of games and sat down at one of the colorful party tables, trying to make sense of it all.  
  
‘What did the two games have in common?’  
  
Alright, mental list time:  
  
They involved that strange purple man. A serial killer, he assumed. A serial killer whose signature seemed to be killing children. Specifically, children at the Fazbear establishment. ‘Why purple?’ He thought. It seemed so out of place, so ridiculous, especially since all the other sprites of people were colored in normally. He supposed it could be trying to show that the man was cast in shadow, but that answer seemed too easy. And why was it important that he been shown these incidents? And who was showing them to him? Was someone trying to expose the killer without endangering themselves?  
  
‘Or,’ he thought ‘Are his victims calling out for help..?’  
  
His train of thought was interrupted when he heard the front door of the building open, the sound of two men talking filling the space. Jeremy panicked and made a beeline for the prize corner, hiding behind the counter. ‘That puppet better be asleep’  
  
“— Look, I can’t keep covering for you like this,” Henry’s voice echoed in the empty space as two figures entered the room. “ _Especially_ after what you did before you left. Don’t you think I forgot about that.”  
  
“Henry, that little incident should be the least of your concerns—“   
  
“ _‘Little_ _Incident_?’” Henry interrupted the other man, “You beat the poor kid within an inch of his life and left him to bleed out in a hotel room, you call that a _‘Little_ _Incident’_? Christ, William, he was your own son!-“  
  
“Michael-” the other man started firmly, “-was a coward. A useless child. I just taught him a lesson.”  
  
Jeremy’s blood went cold.  
  
That was _him_.  
  
That was Michael’s father.  
  
“Oh god-, what is _wrong_ with you?” Henry responded, a hint of terror in his voice.  
  
“Henry, I do believe we have gotten off topic here,”  
  
“William, I already said no, I’m not going to cover for you again.”  
  
There was a pause before William’s voice came again. “You know, Henry,” he said, voice calm, “There’s still a lot of people who think you did it.”  
  
Henry didn’t respond, leaving Jeremy to assume he was shocked.  
  
“How would they react, I wonder, if that somehow turned out to be true..?”  
  
“You wouldn’t **_dare_** ,”  
  
“I can and I will,” William’s tone never changed. He was in control, and he knew that fact very well “Unless you do what I say.”  
  
“You son of a—“ He was cut off my William shushing him “Now, Now, Henry, we wouldn’t want to use that language around little Charlotte now, would we?”  
  
Jeremy’s heart was pounding. He knew what he wasn’t supposed to be hearing any of this and was fearful of what Mr. Afton would do if he was found out.   
  
Henry’s voice returned “Fine,” he said, defeated, “...Fine…”

  
He mumbled something along the lines of “this way” and the two men disappeared into the darkness.   
  
Jeremy took a shaky breath once he found that the men had left. He slowly got to his feet, leaning on the counter for support, and nearly jumped out of his skin We he realized he was being watched. Two white pinpricks peeked out of the present box in the corner. It seemed to take note of Jeremy’s realization, and opened the box a little more, revealing a small amount of its masked face. Jeremy couldn’t do much but stare.   
  
He shook himself out of his stupor, taking a step back. “..Y-.. You were listening to them too, weren’t you?”   
  
The Puppet said nothing, continuing to stare back at him. He continued “Are... Are you Charlotte?”   
  
It seemed to pause a moment before putting a strangely shaped finger to its mouth with a “Shhhhh...” before retreating into its box.   
  
“I-I’ll take that as a yes,” he whispered, “I-I won’t tell anyone, i-if that’s what you were trying to say,” he took another few steps back. “I-I’m uh, gonna just... go, um.” He waited as if the Puppet was going to reply, “S-See ya”   
  
He practically tore the entrance door of the build off its hinges in his hurry to leave.   
  
WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?!??   
  
‘Yeah Jeremy, just talk to the CREEPY POSSESSED DOLL THAT PROBABLY WANTS TO SNAP YOU IN HALF LIKE A KITKAT BAR! GREAT FUCKING PLAN’   
  
Once he got into his car, he slammed his head directly into the steering wheel and let out a muffled, frustrated scream.   
  
———————————————————   
  
_ “Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn’t he?” _ __  
__  
_ “It’s hilarious.” an empty laugh crawls its way through the mask “Say... why don’t we help him get a closer look? I’m sure he’ll love it.” _ __  
__  
_ “No! Please!” _ __  
__  
_ “Come on guys,” the Fox sneered “let’s give the little man a lift.”  _ __  
__  
_ The Fox grabbed the boy’s tiny arm so tight he thought it would snap _ __  
__  
_ “He wants to get up close and personal” _ __  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one feels a little bit shorter, but trust me, things are gonna get really damn cool really soon.
> 
> And also, I hope you’re ready for more flashbacks cause oooooh boy
> 
> Anyway, I’m probably going to wait till after Custom nights somewhat early release (god damn you, Dawko) to start writing Chapter 7. You never know what Mr. Cawthon might do, after all! 
> 
> Thank you for your patience and I hope you all enjoyed
> 
>  
> 
> -Scoops


	7. Comatose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Comatose: a state of prolonged unconsciousness
> 
> He couldn’t sleep.

He couldn’t sleep.  
  
No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t will himself to sleep. His head was buzzing with static noise.   
  
He shouldn’t have heard any of that.   
  
Not a word of it, but his dumbass decided to eavesdrop on the two men’s conversation anyway.   
  
‘What the hell did Mr. Afton do?’  
  
Jeremy groaned and grabbed a pillow, covering his face with it. It was all too much.   
  
‘One more night.’ He thought  
  
‘Just One more...’  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
... _Jeremy_?  
  
  
God, what now?  
  
  
_Jeremy_?  
  
  
Couldn’t the world let him rest for one minute?  
  
  
“Jeremy!”  
  
He awoke with a start. Where—  
  
“Don’t tell me you’re bored already!” a young boy whined at him.  
  
He sat up “Wha-? Where-?”  
  
The boy hit his back of his head, not too forcefully, but enough to shake him from his daze “Wake up already! If I knew you were gonna be bored, I wouldn’t have bothered bringing you here”  
  
Oh, that’s right, right.  
  
Mikey had brought him to see Freddy’s, hadn’t he?  
  
“I-I’m sorry Mikey! I must’ve just dozed off,”  
  
Mikey pouted at Jeremy, still miffed at him  
  
“I said sorry!”  
  
“Hmph!”  
  
“Now, now,” a voice interjected, causing the two children to jump in surprise. They looked up to the man addressing them.   
  
“I’m not bringing you two all the way out here just so you can quarrel like this.” The man turned his head to Mikey “so you best clean up you act, young man”  
  
Mikey sighed “Yes, father,”  
  
“Good,” Mr. Afton left, apparently satisfied with the response.  
  
Jeremy didn’t know why, but something about Mikey’s Dad ... scared him.  
  
“Jeremy, look!” Mikey was tugging on his sleeve and pointing at something across the room. Jeremy followed his line of sight till he found what Mikey wanted him to see.  
  
A large brown bear, carrying a microphone and a wearing a top hat. He made small metallic clicks and whirs as he moved his head back and forth, blue eyes looking around the room. He caught sight of the two boys across the room, and gave a slow robotic wave.  
  
“That one’s Freddy! He can walk and talk, just like real people do! Sometimes, he even gives out cake to everyone!”  
  
“He’s really big,” Jeremy said, somewhat intimidated by the bear that was just a few tables away from them.  
  
“Well, duh, he’s a bear! They’re supposed to be big,”  
  
“I guess that makes sense,” Jeremy resigned, “Are there more things like him here?”  
  
“Well, there’s the Marionette, but it’s not as cool as Freddy is. It doesn’t speak, or anything, I just kinda... watches,” Mikey shivered.  
  
“Is that really it?” Jeremy asked  
  
“Well...” Mikey thought for a moment “There are a few more, but...”  
  
Jeremy was curious now “ _Buuuuut_?”  
  
Mikey got closer to Jeremy, then whispered “They’re hidden away, you’re not supposed to see them,” he smiled, a mischievous smile, “But _I_ know where they are, I can show them to you.”  
  
Mikey took ahold of his hand and guided him away from the glittery table they were sitting at. Looking back and forth, he lead Jeremy off to the side of the room, and showed him a door he hadn’t even noticed before.  
  
“We have to go now while father isn’t watching,” he said, “He gets mad when I mess with Henry’s things,”   
  
“Who’s Henry?”  
  
“Oh, he’s the one who makes the animals.” Mikey pushed the door open carefully, “ _This_ is where he does it,”  
  
Mikey gestured for Jeremy to go inside before going in himself, closing the door behind them.  
  
The room was filled to the brim with metallic parts and plastic bits in boxes, waiting to be made part of something bigger. Stacks of colorful fabric lay on shelves beside the unfinished metal heads of some strange robot. Lastly, there was a large metal table with three unfinished figures on, awaiting completion. It could’ve been considered quite frightening, to anyone in they’re right mind, but if Mikey liked them he wasn’t going to judge. He was curious anyway.  
  
Mikey pulled up a chair to the table and climbed up onto it. He pointed to one of the lifeless figures, half covered in deep blue fabric, the rest of its metal parts exposed. It’s head laid abandoned on the other end of the table. “Henry calls this one Bonnie. He says that’ll be a rabbit once he’s all done. Father really likes this one.” He pointed to the one sitting next to it, coated in yellow and with an excessive amount of wired hanging from where it’s mouth would be. “This one is Chica, Henry says she’ll be a chicken, but him and Father keep arguing about what the beak should look like.”   
  
He hopped of the chair and ran around to the other side of the table, grabbing Jeremy by the arm on his way around, and standing in front of the third figure. “And _this_ one,” he said, pointing up at it, “is Foxy”  
  
Foxy was more complete than the others were. It was almost completely covered in crimson fabric, aside from its legs and one of its arms. “This one is my favorite,” there was a gleam of excitement in Mikey’s eyes, “He’s gonna be a pirate, Jeremy! And he’s gonna have his own stage! Look, he even has a hook!” Mikey took hold of what he could reach of Foxy’s right arm and lifted it up a little bit, showing off the sharp, metal hook at its end. “I can’t wait to see—“  
  
“What are you two doing in here?”  
  
Mikey shrieked in surprise, dropping the metal arm onto the table with a loud _BANG_. The two boys spun around to find a girl, a few years their junior, in the doorway. “Mikey, you aren’t allowed to bring customers back here!”  
  
“But Charlie, he’s-“  
  
“No buts!” Charlie cut him off   
  
“We’re older than you! How come _you_ get to boss us around?” Mikey countered  
  
“This is Daddy’s office, not Uncle Will’s!” She retorted, “Didn’t he tell you not to come in here without permission?”  
  
Mikey whined, “I just wanted to show him Foxy, he’s so cool!”  
  
Charlie took a quick glance over to Jeremy, who was slightly intimidated by her stern look “He can see Foxy later when he’s ready!”  
  
Mikey grunted, “ _Fiiiiine_ ,” he kicked at the ground before joining her at the door, “You better not tell my Father about this!”  
  
“I won’t tell Will,” she said, before giving him a smirk “But my Dad might after I tell him!”   
  
“Hey!”  
  
With that she took off with Mikey trailing behind. Jeremy started to follow, but accidentally bumped into the blue rabbits head sitting on the edge of the table, knocking it onto the floor. Jeremy stopped and went to pick it up. The moment his hand made contact with the blue fur, the world seemed to shift. He looked up, confused, only to find himself somewhere completely different.  
  
‘What..?’ He looked back down at the head, only to find that it had been replaced with a blue rabbit mask.   
  
“Jeremy! Come on and get out here all ready!”  
  
“Yeah, J, what’s taking so long?”  
  
‘Shit, right, the party’  
  
He threw the mask on and stepped out of the supply room, out into the diner.  
  
“Took you long enough!” Kevin half joked at him from behind his mask, the face of the bear smiling at him, “I thought for a second one of the suits came to life and snatched you up”  
  
“Yeah, like that’d even actually happen,” Steven quipped back, eyes cold from within the yellow mask he wore, “They’re just dolls, they can’t hurt anyone”  
  
“But they do! I’ve seen it happen-!”  
  
“I swear to _god_ , we’ve been through this a million times,” Michael glared down at his brother through his disguise, “Whatever it is you thought you saw _didn’t_ _happen_ , So just cut that crap out before I make you.”  
  
The child burst into tears almost instantly, curling in on himself.  
  
“Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn’t he?”  
  
A pit opened in Jeremy’s stomach as Steven said those words.   
  
Something was wrong. Really, _really_ wrong.   
  
“It’s hilarious.” an empty laugh crawled its way out of Michael, “Say... why don’t we help him get a closer look? I’m sure he’ll _love_ it.”  
  
“No! Please!” His little brother begged  
  
“Come on guys,” Mike sneered, ignoring the child “Let’s give the little man a lift.” The Fox grabbed the boy’s tiny arm so tight he thought it would snap. “He wants to get up close and personal”  
  
No, something about this was wrong. It was just a little prank, but somehow it all seemed to familiar. Somehow it filled Jeremy with a dread that threatened to make him collapse.  
  
Without even realizing it, he had lifted the child by up and was carrying him across the room.   
  
“No! I don’t wanna go!”  
  
“You heard the little man! He wants to get even closer!” Michael laughed again. He almost sounded like his father, in that moment. Something had snapped in the boy, brought on by years of neglect, abuse and pure anger. Anger, which he was now directing onto someone who didn’t deserve it.   
  
“Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a _big kiss_!”  
  
No,  
  
No, he didn’t want to do this.  
  
“On **THREE**.”  
  
He didn’t want to do this!  
  
“One,”  
  
Why couldn’t he stop? He didn’t want to do this anymore!  
  
“Two,”  
  
He felt himself throw the child, he couldn’t look away.  
  
He heard himself laugh. He heard the kid scream.  
  
Then it happened  
  
That sickly **_crack_** that would never, ever be able to be unheard.   
  
Everything went silent, yet the show still went on. The rabbit blissfully unaware as it sung its verse. The bear seemingly ignorant to what had just occurred  
  
Right in it’s own jaws.  
  
Then everything came crashing down.  
  
Children screamed and panicked, running to their parents and clinging to them for dear life. A staff member went to the phone as quickly as possible, while others rushed to the stage.   
  
Jeremy couldn’t move.  
  
_Jeremy couldn’t move._ _  
_  
He heard Michael scream, he saw him run.  
  
Jeremy couldn’t move  
  
He saw Michael throw his mask onto the ground like it was something evil.  
  
Jeremy couldn’t move  
  
He saw Michael grab his brother’s limp body. He heard him scream his brother’s name, over and over.  
  
Jeremy couldn’t move.  
  
He heard his Mother scream his name. He felt her shake him, she heard her panic as she took him away from the stage.  
  
_Jeremy. Couldn’t. Move._ _  
_  
He saw the staff grab Michael and rip him away from the body. He saw Michael struggle against them. He heard Michael scream,  
  
“NO! LET ME GO!”  
  
“NO, PLEASE!”  
  
“THAT’S MY BROTHER!!!”  
  
**_“THAT’S MY LITTLE BROTHER!!!”_** ** _  
_**  
  
  
  
Jeremy Couldn’t Move.  
  
  
_Beep_ , _beep_.  
  
Suddenly, he was outside, staring at the door.  
  
_Beep_ , _beep_.  
  
What was he going to say to him?  
  
_Beep_ , _beep_.  
  
Would he even _want_ to see him?  
  
_Beep_ , _beep_.  
  
How... did he even get here?  
  
He took a deep breath, then another.  
  
And then opened the door.  
  
_Beep_ , _beep_ , _beep_.  
  
Jeremy just stared at first. He knew this was what would greet him but...  
  
...but it still...  
  
Hurt.  
  
“...why are you here...”  
  
And hearing him speak hurt even more.  
  
Michael hadn’t turned his attention away from the hospital bed in front of him.   
  
He hadn’t looked away from..  
  
“I... I was worried... about you. Both of you.”  
  
Michael didn’t respond.  
  
Jeremy pulled up a chair next to Michael as quietly as he could. For the first time ever, Michael felt like a piece of glass to him. To a stranger, he’d look like he was composed, but Jeremy could tell that he was on the brink, looking into the abyss.  
  
They sat there for minutes in silence before Jeremy spoke up.  
  
“So... how bad-“  
  
“Comatose.”  
  
“... is there a chance that-?”  
  
“No.”  
  
Another silence. _Beep_ , _beep_ , _beep_.  
  
“Michael, I’m so sorry, I-“  
  
“It was my fault.” Michael’s voice was monotone, his blue eyes dull and tired. He said nothing else on the subject, and Jeremy was afraid if he continued that Michael would shatter.  
  


_ Beep _ ,  _ beep _ ,  _ beep _ ,

  
“...Michael, can...” he bit his lip “..can I ask you something..?”   
  
Michael nodded. He still wouldn’t look him in the eye.   
  
“...did you... did you really hate him..?”   
  
Michael made a sound, not quite a sob, but a sorrowful sound nonetheless. He covered his face with one hand. “No... no I didn’t.”   
  
He let out a hollow laugh. “No, I don’t hate him. I never could hate him, not for a second.” He looked up at the breathing lump in front of them, “I hated that he was my  _ brother _ . I hated that my parents loved him like he was the only child they ever had. I hated that they did the same to  _ her _ too.” He looked down at the floor, “I hated that  _ I _ was never treated like that.”   
  
He scoffed, “Well, that’s not fair to my mother. It was  _ him _ who never cared for me.” He laughed again, a hint of hysteria mixed in, “But do you know how  _ betrayed _ I felt when she abandoned us? She left without a word! And you know what I thought?” He looked at Jeremy, eyes tear bright, a false smile on his face, “ _ I _ thought it was cause she didn’t want a child that was his son. I thought that she hated me because I was  _ just like him. _ ”   
  
A tear finally escaped his eyes, he brushed it away, “and you know what Jeremy? It hurt. It hurt so, so  _ terribly _ bad.” He balled his hands into fists “And I was so  _ angry _ , and, for some god forsaken reason, I decided that it was his fault that my horrible, abusive,  _ shit-head of a Father _ didn’t love me! Isn’t that just  _ hilarious _ ?”   
  
The smile fell of his face in an instant, like it was never there.    
  
“It was never his fault, but I blamed him anyway.” His voice wavered but didn’t break, “I let it out on him”   
  
Michael looked away from Jeremy, “...And now it’s too late... He’s gone.”    
  
“...Michael...” that was all Jeremy could think to say.    
  
“No,” he sniffed and wiped at his eyes, “It’s fine, I’m fine.”    
  
He was lying.    
  
Jeremy waited to make sure he would be okay with contact before he put an arm around Michael, pulling him into a half hug.    
  
_ Beep _ ,  _ beep _ ,  _ beep _ .   
  
“Jeremy..?”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Why did you come back?”   
  
Jeremy pulled away, a little surprised “What do you mean-“   
  
It took Jeremy a moment to realize that they were not longer in the hospital room. Rather, they were now sitting in a white void of space. The bed was gone.   
  
Jeremy looked around, and then back to Michael, who now looked like he had in his dream earlier that week.   
  
Dead, with dull eyes and sunken in features. Too pale, too thin. And it was only now that he was lucid that he noticed the gaping hole in his chest, exposing it to be completely empty.   
  
Jeremy’s took a deep breath and told himself not to panic.   
  
“Michael... Michael you need to be more specific”   
  
Michael looked at him, dull eyes unfocused like they couldn’t really see. “Why did you come back to that place.”   
  
‘He’s talking about Freddy’s’ he thought ‘of course he is’   
  
“I...” he started, “I don’t really know. Maybe I was looking for closure of some kind? Or to see that there was some good in that place, or maybe I just...”   
  
Jeremy trailed off “I don’t know, Mike. I just feel so  _ lost _ .” He fell silent before looking at the phantom beside him “...Why did  _ you _ come back?”   
  
Michael was silent, thinking. Contemplating his words before speaking them. “He made a mess. I promised myself that I would fix it.” He made a frustrated face “But I’m getting nowhere, Jeremy! I’m not finding anything, and I just feel so  _ trapped _ , I feel so...”   
  
“... _ lost _ ”   
  
Michael slid a hand down his face, “Oh  _ god _ , you really are a part of this mess now...”   
  
“I... am?” Jeremy asked, pretending he knew what that meant   
  
“I tried to tell you to get out, I tried to tell you to leave before you got caught up in this mess,  _ MY _ mess, because no one ever leaves this mess without dying or worse-“ he looked Jeremy dead in the eye, “-ending up like me,”   
  
“So that’s why...” Jeremy muttered   
  
“Why what?”   
  
“Why you kept coming in early,” Jeremy stated, as if it was obvious, “you were making sure I hadn’t gotten myself killed.” A smile made its way onto Jeremy’s face “You were worried about me,”   
  


Michael sighed, “Yeah, I suppose... I was,” his expression turned stern “Jeremy, promise me something,”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
Michael took a hold of his shoulders and squeezed them tight “Promise me that you won’t go back there again.”   
  
Jeremy gave him a conflicted look, “Michael, I can’t just—“   
  
“Jeremy,  _ please _ ,” The look in Michael’s eyes was so desperate “I don’t want to lose anyone else to this place”   
  
Jeremy looked away from him a moment, “I can’t promise you that,”   
  
“Then-... promise me you won’t  _ die _ in there!” Michael shook him a little bit “Cause I will lose my  **_shit_ ** if one more person I know dies,”   
  
Jeremy looked at his friend, took a deep breath, and sighed.   
  
“I promise, Michael. I promise”   
  
  
  
  
Then he woke up   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My heart was POUNDING while writing this chapter, and continued to do so long after I finished. I hope you all enjoyed Jeremy’s little ghost-dream ride through the past! Next stop: Night 5, which is gonna be a bit different than the games, a little more how you say...
> 
> Free roam ;)
> 
> Ahah alright, that’s enough from me.
> 
> See you next time!
> 
> -Scoops


	8. Filicide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filicide: the act of killing your own child
> 
> You are alone.

Jeremy looked at the floor on his way to the office. From the moment he entered the building, plastic eyes were stalking him like prey. He even felt like his shadow was watching him.   
  
The clock was ticking.  
  
_‘Time to keep that promise, Jeremy’_ _  
_  
12:00 A.M.  
  
The phone was ringing before he even entered the room. He hurried to take a seat, the office chair swinging a bit. He got to work monitoring the building as Scott spoke:  
  
_“Hello, hello? Hey, good job, night 5! Um hey, um, keep a close eye on things tonight, ok?” -_ The new models were already on the move - _“Um, from what I understand, the building is on lock down, uh, no one is allowed in or out, y'know, especially concerning any...previous employees.” -_ Ominous... - “ _Um, when we get it all sorted out, we may move you to the day shift, a position just became...available. Uh, we don't have a replacement for your shift yet, but-“ -Oh joy, more people to get roped into this mess - “-restaurant owner. Uh, I think the name of the place was "Fredbear's Family Diner" or something like that.”_ -Old Bonnie and Chica were gone... “- _Well, just get through one more night! Uh, hang in there! Goodnight!”_ _  
_  
_‘Well, here goes nothing’_ _  
_  
——————————————  
  
  
_‘Was it real?’_ _  
_  
It felt real, at the time. But, then again, most dreams do. It’s only once you wake up that you realize it wasn’t reality. Yet, something about it just felt like so much more than just a dream. It was like he was really there, talking to him again, just like it used to be.  
  
_‘But it’s not like it used to be_.’ He picked at the plastic edge of an old VHS tape ‘ _I’m not who he’s looking for anymore.’_ _  
_  
He slid the tape into the player and slumped against the foot of the sofa, not bothering to sit in it.  
  
_“Another day, another dramatic entry in the lives of Vlad and his distressed mistress...”_ _  
_  
He dashed another red tally into the notebook, ‘ _28\. I’ve watched this entire show 28 times now.’_ _  
_  
He tossed the notebook to the side and continued to sit lifeless on the floor.  
  
‘ _Pathetic_.’  
  
———————————  
  
“ _Tune in next time-!_ ”  
  
He removed the tape, letting static fill the empty house.   
  
How much longer would he be stuck here?  
  
A few more years? A few more decades?  
  
Till the end of the world?  
  
The only thing that terrified him more was the thought that he may never be free. That he would continue to exist after everything else came to an end.  
  
He slid the next tape in.  
  
‘ _God, help me_ ’  
  
He let the show become nothing but background sound to him as his mind drifted about.  
  
_‘I have to stop him.’_ But how? _‘I have to save them.’_ Yet, he couldn’t figure out how to save himself. It was a violent cycle of those two thoughts. Almost every waking moment was nothing but those two phrases buzzing around his empty head.  
  
He glanced at the man wearing the purple suit on the screen ahead.  
  
He couldn’t seem to escape that color.  
  
That terrible, terrible color.  
  
  
  
  
...  
  
He would never understand him.   
  
Never.  
  
It’s strange, really. He couldn’t remember a single time his father showed any affection towards him. In fact, he was almost positive that he was never wanted in the first place. At the very least his mother did seem to care, but when Elizabeth... went missing.., Mrs. Afton left.   
  
And his brother? Well,   
  
Everyone knows what happened there.  
  
Most would believe that Michael would have been punished for his actions. That his father would make him regret ever being born for what he did. That’s what he expected, yet...  
  
His father seemed...  
  
Proud of him?  
  
He couldn’t sleep for days straight. He kept hearing the sound, the screaming. The smile on his father’s face he swore he saw when they let him...  
Once he did manage to sleep again, all he dreamt of was all red around him, and blood on his hands.  
  
He would have been relieved when his father finally left. If it didn’t involve him bleeding out on a hotel room floor and being left to die.   
  
_‘If only I could do that now’_ _  
_  
He turned the T.V. off. He’d had enough.  
  
He’d had enough...  
  
Hadn’t he had enough?  
  
  
...Hadn’t he suffered enough...?  
  
  
————————————————  
  
  
_“Put that away, Michael.”_ _  
__  
__Mike’s grip on his pencil tightened and he bit his lip in annoyance. He tapped his finger on the side of the sketchbook. Could he leave him alone one day?_ _  
__  
__William circled around the chair he was sitting, probably heading to his (absolutely dreadful) office. He stopped and looked back at Michael_ _  
__  
__“...I said, Put. That. Away. Stop mucking around and-“_ _  
__  
__“Technically, I’m required to finish th—“_ _  
__  
__Before he could finish his thought, William had whipped around and grabbed him by the shirt, causing Michael to drop what he was holding. “Don’t interrupt me, young man.” William looked Mike dead in the eyes. His eyes, which once may have been the same deep blue as Michael’s, were dull and gray, shining like plastic. “This... ‘career choice’ of yours isn’t going to get you anywhere. I thought I made that very clear. So if you don’t want to end up dead and forgotten in a ditch somewhere, you will put that damn thing down and work on something important”_ _  
__  
__Michael averted his eyes. Hell no. He wasn’t going to let his father keep controlling his life. William seemed impatient; he was waiting for a response._ _  
__  
__“Sod off,” Michael muttered under his breath_ _  
__  
__“I beg your pardon?”_ _  
__  
__He snapped “I said, SOD OFF, you tos-“_ _  
__  
__Michael barely had time to process what happened next. He only registered the sharp pain in his jaw and his body slamming into the chair behind him. He put a hand up to his face, he could taste the blood in his mouth. ‘He hit me,’_ _  
__  
__“Watch you tongue, young man,” William grabbed Michael’s chin and forced eye contact, “Learn some respect, or I might just have to teach it to you,”_ _  
__  
__William let him go and walked away. Michael didn’t move until the footsteps faded away. ‘He hit me,’_ _  
__  
__He sat in shock for a while, his whole body shaking. ‘He actually hit me,’_ _  
__  
__He shakily got up, steadying himself on the arm of the chair, ‘He hit me,”_ _  
__  
__He heard something to his left and looked over. His younger brother shrunk back upon being seen. ‘He was—‘ the toddler quickly turned to leave. “Hey!” Michael got up and bolted over to him, grabbing the back of his shirt and turning him around. “Were you there the whole time?! Just standing there?!” The child avoided his glare, “Why didn’t you do anything, huh?!”_ _  
__  
__When the kid didn’t reply, Michael pushed him to the ground. “This is your fault,” he mumbled, anger boiling up within him. “THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”_ _  
__Michael slammed his arm into the wall, making a dent. The sound echoed in the nearly empty house. He stood still, panting, the adrenaline from his outburst still lingering._ _  
__  
__  
__“I wish you were never born,”_ _  
__  
__  
__He didn’t stick around to see his reaction._ _  
__  
__Michael slammed the door to his room shut, then slid down it onto the floor, breathing heavily._ _  
__  
__‘Why did I do that?’ ‘Why did I say that?’ ‘What was I thinking?’ ‘I’m a horrible person’ ‘I’m worthless,’ ‘I shouldn’t be here,’ ‘I shouldn’t be here’ ‘I shouldn’t be here’ ‘I shouldn’t be here,’ ‘I shouldn’t...’_ _  
_  
———————————————————  
  
4:35 A.M.  
  
Michael was bored out of his skull.  
  
Not surprisingly, being in his situation severely limits the amount of things you can do. And eventually, even the little things he used to like became a drag. He couldn’t exactly distract himself with eating and he wasn’t even sure if he was sleeping more than he was just zoning out. So far he had waited until 4:50 before he left for Hurricane, but he was losing his patience.  
  
_‘Fuck it_ ’ he pushed himself off the floor, steeping around the discarded tapes, broken lamp, and scrawled notes.   
  
Why not leave early. Not like he had anything better to do.  
  
  
The bus rides were the worst part of going anywhere. He didn’t own a car, (The car he did own had been so graciously left behind by his body hijackers), and there was no way he’d be able to go get one now. Hurricane was an hour away and feared someone taking notice of him or trying to interact. Luckily, he was the only one crazy enough to be awake at 4 A.M.   
  
The bus stopped sooner than he thought. Once he got out he checked the time:  
  
5:20 A.M  
  
_‘Lucky me’_ _  
_  
He tugged his hood down and started walking.   
  
—————————————————  
  
Jeremy was now 100% certain that he made a horrible career choice.  
  
He was also 100% certain that he was going to die.  
  
—————————————————  
  
Michael- Or, well, Fritz, had arrived at the building at 5:37, and had opted to wait until the chaos cleared out. The sky was dark, it was probably going to rain later. How inconvenient.   
  
Time passed and he checked the time again,   
  
5:47  
  
Strange... it almost sounded like they were closer to the south side of the building rather than the north.  
  
That was... odd. Wouldn’t they be closer to the office?  
  
...  
  
Unless he-...  
  
_‘He fucking wouldn’t, he would not be that stupid’_ _  
_  
He quickly unlocked the front door and pushed it open. (The stupid thing creaks despite being new.) He took a glance down the main hall. Despite the lack of light, he could still see the lot of them moving in the distance. He couldn’t hear the music box. ‘ _You have got to be kidding me_ ’. He creeped down the hall as quietly as possible, ‘So, if this were a horror movie, and Jeremy is the idiot protagonist, he’d hide in the first place he’d think to,’  
  
He had a pretty good idea where.  
  
Michael took a look around the main dining area. Freddy, the new one, was in the game area. ‘ _At least he’s not looking_ ’. He took his chance to duck behind one of the party tables, ‘ _Easy now_ ,’. He moved across to the next one, then checked to see if Freddy had moved. He hadn’t. ‘He always was a little more mild’. He rolled over to the last table in the row, preparing to make a run for the next hall. He took a deep breath, (not that he needed too).   
  
3...  
  
2...  
  
  
  
In hindsight, hiding in the bathroom was a pretty bad idea. If they broke down the stall door, he’d be cornered. And if he left now, he’d probably die too.  
  
Basically, he was fucked.   
  
Curled up on top of the toilet seat, he tried to stay as silent as he could. It was only a matter of time now until—  
  
  
BANG! BANG!  
  
He nearly jumped out of his skin. _‘Something's kicking the door,_ ’   
  
The banging came again, he was dead he was so dead—  
  
  
“Jeremy, do you want to survive or not?”  
  
Well, he was still probably dead, “M-Mike?”  
  
“Yes, now stop sitting on the shitter and get out of there now”  
  
Jeremy slid the lock open and crawled out, “How did you know I was here?”  
  
“Had a hunch. Oh, and the first stall isn’t the best option if you’re trying not to be found”  
  
“In my defense, I was in a hurry,”  
  
“Right,”  
  
“What are you even doin—“ Jeremy immediately lost his words when he saw what was in the doorway. Michael caught on and looked over his shoulder,  
  
It was the new Bonnie, or at least it looked like it. Despite the hallway behind it having a small source of light, none of it reflected off the rabbits body. It’s eyes and teeth seemed to glow in the dark.   
  
Mike grabbed Jeremy and turned him around with jarring speed, “Don’t look at it,”  
  
Jeremy stood still but was shaking. ‘What the hell is that thing?’  
  
**_„dOn T ÿØ u w åN T tO S E ė mE?»_** ** _  
_**  
The voice was almost incomprehensible, but it sounded so familiar.  
  
‘ _Who_ -‘  
  
**_“I REmM E mmB er y ou tW o„_** ** _  
_****_  
_****_"Y o U iN suFf e r Able C hi l d rEn»_** ** _  
_**  
Out of the corner of his eye, just barely visible in the dark, he saw the things hand reaching for his shoulder.  
  
**_“C OM E wiT H m E tO m y sPEc ial HELL„_** ** _  
_**  
The thing grabbed his shoulder hard. Jeremy fell to his knees, his vision going completely dark. His head was filled with a unbearable screeching sound and scraped at the sides of his mind. He tried to scream, but nothing came out, he tried to call for help, _but_ _There_ **_w a s n o t HI NG FO r HI m L e F T._** ** _  
_**  
**_The metal pierces your heart. Your body is crushed under the weight of death. You can’t breathe, because your lungs are full of blood. The Rabbit Watches Quietly. He does nothing to help. All he does is smile. Betrayal fills your senses. Everything hurts but you can’t move. You try to scream again, but you’re drowning. You call for help. But nobody came. The rabbit watches._** ** _  
_****_  
_****_And he smiles, because no one will ever find you. You will be forgotten. You will never be freed._** ** _  
_****_  
_****_You are alone._** ** _  
_****_  
_****_You. Are. Alone._** ** _  
_****_  
_**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
“Jeremy!”  
  
The world rushed back into focus. What the hell, oh god, oh god, where-  
  
“Jeremy, it’s gone, it’s not here anymore”  
  
No, no more, why, why, oh god, oh god, he was dying he was-  
  
“Jere, _breathe_ ,”  
  
Someone put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched. Oh god, oh god-   
  
“Jeremy, it’s fine, you’re fine, everything’s okay. Breathe, breathe.”  
  
  
He took a few shaky deep breaths. Holy shit.  
  
  
  
“W-What the hell was that thing?”  
  
“A shadow of the past,” Michael replied in monotone, “You shouldn’t look at them” he repeated his warning  
  
“Y-You don’t say?” Jeremy said, shakily getting up with Michael’s help. It felt so real. “W-What time is it?”  
  
“6:12, you were down for a while.”

 

“Sweet Jesus...” he put a hand to his head, “H-How come it didn’t go for you..?”   
  
Michael’s expression was blank    
  
“Who said it didn’t.”   
  
Oh   
  
_ Oh _   
  
“So you—?”   
  
“Yes.”    
  
“All of it—?   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Oh.”   
  
Nothing like getting traumatized together to make a friendship stronger.   
  
“So,” Michael put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Now for the million dollar question:”   
  
Michael looked him dead in the eye. “Why did you leave the office?”   
  
“W-Well, um—“ Jeremy stuttered, “You p-probably wouldn’t believe me,”   
  
“We are standing in a haunted building full of killer robots.  _ Try _ me.”   
  
Well, you can’t argue with that.   
  
“...Okay, um,” Jeremy paused to think, “It’s better if I just, uh, show you,”   
  
Michael questioned him for a second before nodding. “Fine,”   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long and I’m so sorry about that. School started and stuff, ya know? Luckily, spooking month is just around the corner, meaning Fnaf inspo is gonna be at an all time high.
> 
> Also, Shadow Bonnie: king of the Undertale references apparently.
> 
> Next up: Michael Flashbacks part 2: this time, it’s even more personal.
> 
> Thank you for your patience,
> 
> -Scoops

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I haven’t done this before at all, so god help me.
> 
> I may or may not continue this, depending on if I have the inspiration for it or not.
> 
> -Scoops


End file.
